Do sociology programs put much weight on GRE?

[ErikaFate]

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting, so I apologize if my question is an overlap to previous topics. I'm a first-generation student, and I am trying to head into grad school without much of an idea about what I'm doing. 

I took my GRE on Monday, and got a 162 in verbal and only a 151 in quant. I haven't taken a math course in nearly 10 years, so I suppose I could have done worse. Is this low quant going to matter to sociology graduate programs very much? My current professors are telling me that it's not very important, but I figure there needs to be at least a baseline before they even look. I'm hoping my GPA will offset the quant here, which is at 3.99. 

[sociopolitic]

If dropping the money to buy a couple of cheap review books and retake the exam isn't out of the question, it might be worth considering. I think you're right that some programs have a baseline or cut-off you need to meet, and I suspect that top 5 programs are more likely than the rest to drop applications that don't meet a minimum quant score. Still, though, you can probably offset that aspect of your application with strong writing samples, good research experience etc. 

TL;DR You should retake it if you want to maximize your chances of admission but opting not to retake probably won't keep you out of grad school, especially if the rest of your apps are strong 

[pinoysoc]

I agree with @sociopolitic. A graduate director chastised me and pretty much said that my low GRE scores were a big factor because their department is quant-heavy. However, I found out that in some regards, it comes down to the right program (and fit) to give you an acceptance. First-year Ph.D. student and the program I'm attending now is the only I got into, but it's also the only program that's guaranteeing me two-degrees (also getting my MPH at the same time) by the time I finish.. So I win. LOL.

[high_hopes]

I found Magoosh (https://gre.magoosh.com/) super helpful for GRE prep. I recommend checking it out if you're planning to write again.

Edited September 25, 2018 by high_hopes
typo

[ErikaFate]

I got a 5.0 in analytical writing as well, so overall it seems okay. 90th percentile for verbal and analytical. I'll probably be avoiding the quant-heavy schools anyway since I have so much experience in qualitative research. Thank you!